Concrete slab and embedded duct structure



March 5, 1957 H. H. WERNER CONCRETE SLAB AND EMBEDDED DUCT STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 29, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 x5 za 5/ INVEN TOR. HENRY H. WERNER March 5, WERNER CONCRETE SLAB AND EMBEDDED DUCT STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 29, 1952.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. HENRY H. WERNER March 5, 1957 H. H. WERNER 2,783,639

CONCRETE SLAB AND EMBEDDED DUCT STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 29. 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN TOR. HENRY H. WERNER CONCRETE SLAB AND EMBEDDED DUCT STRUCTURE Henry H. Werner, Long Island City, N. Y. Application October 29,1952, Serial No; 317,387

1 Claim. (01. 72 -16) This invention relates-generally to building constructions and more particularly to a structural unit such as the form or mold for a reinforced concrete slab.

Heretofore in building constructions employing reinforced concrete slabs as structural units for the floors and the like, in order to provide the necessary services for the building, such as electric lighting, telephones, radio, inter-communications, radiant heating and cooling, air conditioning and soundproofing and the like, many expedients have been followed. Some have resorted to the installation of an underfloor duct system in afill on top of the structural concrete slab for distribution of the wiring. Such ducts are necessarily shallow in order to avoid excessive fill and because of the cost they are spaced considerable distances apart, for example, four to six feet. Thus they cover only a minimum of floor space, and allow minimum flexibility.

Piping for radiant heating and cooling has been installed in additional fill on top of the concrete slab or embedded within the slab. This is very costly and cumbersome.

Separate ducts have been installed to provide for air conditioning.

soundproofing has been provided by applying acoustical material to the ceiling or by perforating it with a plurality of small holes.

Such expedients, necessitating separate installations, are costly, requiring a maximum of time, labor and material.

It is a prime object of the present invention to overcome these difficulties by providing a building construction which may be economically erected and the construction of which is adapted to enable electric service, air conditioning, radiant heating and cooling and soundproofing to be furnished to different desired locations in the building with a maximum of flexibility, simplicity, convenience and economy, this prime object being attained by the provision of a plurality of parallel ducts formed by the permanent form or mold at the undersurface of the slab.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a permanent form for a reinforced concrete slab which serves as a working platform before pouring the concrete.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a mold for a concrete slab that serves to-support the duct elements.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a concrete slab form of this 'kind which is simple and rugged in construction and which can be manufactured at a reasonable cost, considering. that the form fulfills a variety of permanent services.

For a further comprehension of the invention and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings and to the appended claims in which the various novel nited States PatentO "ice 2,783,639 Fatented Mar. 5, 1957 features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a fragment of a building construction embodying one form of the invention, part of the concrete being shown broken away to show the interior construction, and some of the parts being shown diagrammatically.

*Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the plane of the line 2-2 of Fig. 1'.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the plane of the line 3--3 of Fig. '1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the corrugated reinforcing of the mold member to form the ducts.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the mold member.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a duct connecting element.

'Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing a modification of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken on the plane of the line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

'Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view taken on the plane of the line 99 of Fig. 7. 1 i

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 9- but showing a concrete slab embodying still another modified form of the invention.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, of the drawings, the form of concrete slab 10 herein shown is a standard reinforced concrete joint slab with its top slab10, joists 11 and cross-rib 12 supported at their perimeter on an end wall or beam 13 and a side wall or beam 14 and is supported interiorly by a wall or beam 15. Beam 15 is supported by uprights 16.

Each mold member 17, preferably made of thin metal, is a trough-shaped pan including a top 18, sidewalls 19 and end walls 20 with or without outwardly extending peripheral flanges 21. The sizes and general arrangement of these mold pans 17 will preferably conform to the standard practice for this type of construction.

According to the present invent-ion, a corrugated plate 22 is fastened inside the pan mold 17 as shown in Fig. 3. The plate 22 is corrugated throughout its length at spaced intervals with substantially rectangular corrugations 23 and peripheral flanges 24. The plate 22 is fitted inside the .pan 17 with its flanges 24 positioned alongside the side wall-s 19 of the pan. The flanges 24 are secured to the side walls 19 by welding or otherwise. The upper portions of the corrugations 23 are positioned against the top 18 of the pan and secured thereto. This construction forms a plurality of ducts 25 for receiving wiring for servicing the building and/or for passage of air. The number and size of these ducts 25 may vary according to the size of the pan or the service requirements.

The mold pan 17 with the corrugated plate 22 attached to it remain permanently in position after the concrete slab 1i? and joists 11 have hardened. The corrugated plate 22 reinforces the pan 17 permitting the latter "to be made of economic, thin plain sheet metal. The pan 17 may be of sheet metal or other sheet material whichever result is more economical or practical for the purpose.

Corresponding to the ducts 25, holes or knockout pro,- visions 25' for such holes are provided in the end walls 20 of the mold pan 17 as shown in Fig. 5. These holes are plugged or left unopened if not required for the continuation of the ducts 25.

Continuity of the ducts 25 through the cross rib 12 is provided by tubular sleeves 26 which connect the open ends of adjacent opposite ducts. Continuation of the ducts 25 into the wall or beam 13 can be provided by bent sleeve 26. Access from air ducts 27 to ducts 25 is provided by branches 28. Cross branch ducts 29 serve to inter-connect the ducts 25. Air flow for cooling, heating and airconditioning passes through a plurality of ducts 25 and sleeves 26 entering or leaving by branches '28 or sleeves 26' and looping through cross branch ducts 29. p I

. Wiring for servicing the building uses the plurality of ducts 25 with the general understanding that low tension wiring may pass through the same ducts 25 which are used for the air flow described before. Communication between and access to the ducts 25 for the purpose of wiring is provided as follows: Conduits 30 of tubular rectangular cross-section extend across the top of ducts 25 or similar conduits 30' extend across the bottom of ducts 25. Conduits 30 or 30' are preferably spliced by means of sheet metal sleeves located in each rib 11 for the bottom conduit 30 or at any point for the top conduit 30. At spaced intervals along the ducts 25 and conduits 30 and 30' interconnecting openings are provided through the concrete slab and the shells of ducts and conduits. Splice boxes 31 fitted into these openings permit access to conduit and-ducts. Along any place of the plurality of ducts 25 outlet openings with fittings 32 can be located before or after the concrete has been placed.

Connection of ducts 25 for the purpose of wiring across beam are made with transverse tubular conduits 33. The ends of these conduits are connected to reducing sleeve members 34 (Fig. 6), inserted in the ends of the ducts 25.

Great flexibility and intense coverage for wired services is adhieved by the foregoing arrangement, as required for modern buildings anticipating changes in occupancy and increase in variety of services. A multirude and variety of wiring may be extended and interconnected as shown diagrammatically. Wires 35 and 35' from panel boxes 36 and 36 in wall 14 can pass through conduits 30 and 30' into ducts 25 by means of splice boxes 31 and run to any outlet fitting 32. Further extension of interconnections is provided through reducing sleeves 34 and conduits 33.

Splices of the pans 17 with the corrugated plates 22 may be made by sheet metal covers indicated diagrammatically at 17 and 22' attached by spotwelding or the like. Branch air ducts 28 and cross branches 29 are suitably connected to the ducts 25.

Hot or cold air flowing through ducts 25 heats or cools the duct lining and slab producing radiant heating or cooling. This uses greater, more efiicient, temperature differential and the very comfortable radiant temperature variation. The air having lost some temperature differential in the ducts 25 is released to the room for air conditioning. It may be released through conventional grills or through a number of small openings in the bottom of the ducts 25. The latter openings would at the same time serve as sound-absorbers as employed for acoustical treatment.

If downward loss of heating or cooling is to be minimized the corrugated plate 22 is made of insulating material and/or treated inside with a refractory coating which reduces radiation.

In Fig. 7, a portion of a concrete slab construction embodying a modified form for a one-way concrete slab is illustrated. In this form the elements similar to the elements in the form of Fig. 1 are given the same reference numerals. The mold for this form of slab comprises a metal plate member 37 extending the length and width of theslab. The plate member is formed with corrugations 38 substantially rectangular in crosssection and extending the length of the plate.

A plate member 39 is welded or otherwise suitably secured to the lower horizontal portions of the mold plate 37 thereby closing the space between the corrugations 38 of the plate 37 at their bottom ends to provide ducts 25 between the adjacent ribs 11'. In this form also, the mold is to remain.

A transverse metal I-beam 40 is shown supporting the slab in addition to thebeam or wall 15. Figs. 8 and 9 are sectional views of Fig. 7 showing the various elements similar to Figs. 2 and 3. V

The modified form ofslab shown in Fig. 10 is similar to the slab of Fig. 9 except that the sides 41 of the corrugated mold plate member 37' instead of being straight slant slightly outwardly making the space between the ribs 11' larger at the top thanat the bottom. In this form also instead of a single elongated plate 39 for closing the bottom ends of the ducts, separate plate members 42 are secured to the side walls of the corrugations 41 between adjacent ribs 11'.

The shape and size of the ducts 25 may vary according to the slab thickness and other requirements. The accessory elements for interconnection and access of the ducts 25 are essentially the same as shown in Figs. 1 to 6 and are shown and numbered accordingly in Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10. All joints of molds, sleeves etc., should be mortartight and essentially airtight where so required.

The bottom portions of the corrugated plate 22 shown in Fig. 3, and the bottom portions of the ducts 25 in the plate members 39 and 42 of Figs. 9 and 10 may be perforated to serve as acoustical dampers or air-outlets or may be composed of acoustical material or temperature insulating material, or may be treated on the inside surface with a refractory coating in order to diminish temperature loss downwardly by radiation.

The structural arrangement of the concrete ribbed slabs of Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 will conform to the standard practice and requirements of this type of construction. The forms will preferably be fabricated in such lengths as to extend from support to support. They will be made of convenient width for handling and jointed laterally by butting or lapping, closing the joint in such a manner that no mortar of the fresh concrete passes through the joint. The cellular shape of the form gives enough strength for handling and requires less intermediate supports or shoring such as 43 during the construction.

It is to be understood that the forms may be made of sheet metal, asbestos, insulating board or any kind of plastic material.

While I have shown and described several embodiments of the invention, it will be undertsood that changes in details might be made, and parts might be used without others, without departing from the principle of the invention and I desire to be limited only by the appended claim:

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by. United States Letters Patent is:

A unitary composite concrete and metal floor structure including a plurality of horizontally disposed molds disposed in spaced side by side and spaced end-to-end relationship, said molds each including an inverted elongated metal pan having depending side walls, reinforcing devices constituting corrugated plates fitted within said mold pans, said plates and molds forming a plurality of inner and outer ducts, said corrugated plates having peripheral depending flanges engaging and secured to the inner surfaces of the depending side walls of said mold pans, said mold pans including end walls having openings in alignment with each other and with the ducts of the pans, a monolithic slab of concrete covering said molds, said slab having depending cross and end beams extending into the spaces between said molds, said beams having horizontally disposed passages thereacross, sleeves in the passages in said cross beams serving to connect the ducts of each mold, and conduits in the passages in 2,788,689 5 said end beams serving to connect the ducts of one mold 2,007,689 Merrill July 9, 1935 with those of the adjacent mold. 2,041,965 Sargent May 26, 1936 2,125,366 Young Aug. 2, 19318 2,131,652 Young Sept. 27, 1938 References Cited m the file of th1s patent 5 2,213,603 Young Sept 3, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,259,674 Wiesmann Oct. 21, 1941 2313135 Fay Mar. 9 1943 684,116 S1egwart Oct. 8, 1901 9 0 757 Wilson Jam 26, 09 2,392,240 Frankel 1, 1946 1,855,082 Young Apr. 19, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,941,211 Inglee 1933 11 4 9 Sweden Feb 7 1 99 1,952,449 Marks 1934 420,062 Great Britain Nov. 16, 1934 

